New hires could bring Rockford police to full strength

Saturday

Jun 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 15, 2013 at 2:14 PM

ROCKFORD — The Rockford Police Department will approach full strength for the first time since 2008 if it goes through with plans to hire at least seven more new officers from among 27 candidates left from the latest hiring cycle.

Jeff Kolkey

ROCKFORD — The Rockford Police Department will approach full strength for the first time since 2008 if it goes through with plans to hire at least seven more new officers from among 27 candidates left from the latest hiring cycle.

The 27 are those remaining from the 133 who attempted a physical agility test in May. Although they have navigated a challenging set of tests, the still have a long way to go before pinning on a badge, Assistant Deputy Chief Mike Dalke said.

The hiring process is designed to be tough, Dalke said.

“We have very stringent requirements to be a law enforcement officer,” Dalke said. “You can see how it’s important to make sure these individuals are vetted properly. We don’t want to cut things out to make it easier to be hired because then you look at other consequences that may come down.”

The Rockford police force has struggled to get back to 285 officers — the full strength level authorized by the City Council — since a nearly four-year hiring freeze was lifted in January 2012.

The department brought on 15 new officers in May. Police Commission Chairman LoRayne Logan said another hiring cycle opened immediately following the May hires.

Those hired in May have starting salaries of $45,631 a year. The group brought the department’s total sworn officer count to 278.

After 10 weeks of basic training, the newest Rockford officers will work under a field training officer.

The latest crop of candidates already has successfully completed a physical agility test, a written test of basic skills and a written pre-polygraph inventory.

They are nearing interviews with the Rockford Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. The city hopes a new group will be sworn in this summer.
Those that make it through tough oral interviews before the commission must pass polygraph, psychological and medical tests in addition to a background investigation.

So far this newest class of recruits is getting through each step of the process at about the same percentages as the previous class, but at a faster pace, Logan said.

“That’s because A., we need to be at full force, B., we need to work backward from the academy date and C., we want to get this done as expeditiously and with as much quality as we can,” Logan said. “And this is a good time for recruiting, there are graduations and people are ready and available. We wanted to be part of that.”